The purchasing managers index for manufacturing fell, suggesting stagnant industrial production.
Overall, industrial production – which includes mining and energy, as well as manufacturing – fell by 0.4% in July.
In a separate report, the financial data firm Markit said its preliminary purchasing managers index on manufacturing fell to 51.1, the lowest since October 2012, from 52.8 in September.
The drop in the P.M.I.s was broad, with the services index slowing to 51.4 from 53.7 and manufacturing falling to 50.4 from 52.
On May 2nd, the Reuters/NTC purchasing managers' index for manufacturing fell below 50 for the first time since August 2003, implying that the sector is shrinking.
The services index dropped from 52.3 in June to 47.4, an 88-month low, while manufacturing fell from 52.1 in June to 49.1.
In the 1970's and 1980's, cities like Buffalo and Detroit that had been hubs of manufacturing fell into a downward spiral.
6The share of workers in the top quintile of skills employed in manufacturing fell from 28 to 25percentt in this period.
But manufacturing fell in January.
Manufacturing fell by almost 2% in November.
